Merlin's Tower
Merlin's Tower is a skyscraper in the heart of Las Vegas from the novel Final Destination: Dead Man's Hand. It is also the place where the elevator accident occurs. How the elevator accident happened Due to an unknown problem with one of the guest elevators (and due to maintenance failing to inspect the elevator to find the source of the problem) one night, the elevator stops during its descent and shakes violently. It tilts forward and begins to come out of its gears and sockets when the glass panes fall out and the passengers inside began to fall out the elevator several hundreds of feet to the ground. Eventually, the elevator tilts forward at a ninety degree angle until it comes off the tower completely and plummets to the ground, taking the rest of the passengers along with it and wounding or killing several more civilians on the ground with the falling debris. Death toll: 40, but there may have been a higher body count after further investigation. Signs/Clues * Alli wakes up to Animals' "We Gotta Get Outta This Place" playing on her clock radio. * Arlen thinks about how to best avoid drug dealers, not wanting to become another crime statistic ("there were already enough deaths in Vegas each year without adding another body to the morgue's coffers") * While playing a game of poker, Arlen draws a Dead Man's Hand, almost the same one Wild Bill Hickock had the day he died. * While at a crime scene, Warren sarcastically thinks about how he has heard the saying "Death is apart of life" throughout his career, thinking it's just an excuse to make grieving families think there is some cosmic or divine plan or balance * Allie notices Tom's wedding ring and looks at her matching one, saying it felt strangely heavy and too tight, "Like a noose around my neck" * Allie reflects that all the hard partying, boozing, drug using and sex she had in her youth were "All the things that would have guaranteed her suffering an extremely messy death in any low-budget horror movie" * Allie sees an elderly couple in the elevator going down to the lobby and for one brief moment, "had the unsettling feeling that the elderly couple she was standing behind were really reversed reflections of her and Tom, years from now. A vision of the future, as it were." * The napkin dispenser in the diner Warren and Shawna eat was a plastic recreation of a poker hand, the Dead Man's Hand. * While working in the laundromat, Arlen is beaten and nearly killed by Roberto Diaz. When Roberto leaves after realizing the attack was recorded by the security camera, Arlen smiles and muses that "it wasn't his time to die, then." * Warren decides to be more open to Shawna, describing today as "a night to remember" and one that will change their lives forever. * While dining in The Lady of the Lake, Arlen stares at his reflection in the window and states "Top o' the world, Ma! Top o' the world" a line said by Jimmy Cagney in the film White Heat, right before the building he was in exploded. * Arlen remembers a saying his mother coined, "There'll always be another elevator. You don't have to kill yourself racing to catch the first one." * "We Gotta Get Outta This Place" is playing in the elevator. * When Allie causes the elevator to stop and tries to lead everyone out of it, the doors violently slam shut on her and the elevator starts moving on its own, nearly severing her in half before Tom, Warren and Arlen manage to pry the doors back open. * Aldis Escobar had nearly died in the elevator the day before, when it malfunctioned in the same way as in "The Strip Maul Disaster", as the media called the collapse. Survivors * Allie Goodwin-Gaines (unknown, presumed deceased) * Tom Gaines (deceased) * Arlen Ploog (deceased) * Warren Ackerman (deceased) * Shawna Engels (deceased) Known Casualties * Tony Augustino Category:Final Destination: Dead Man's Hand Category:Disasters Category:Opening Disaster